Monday, February 23, 2009
treatment pause
I've been on the Santa Cruz treatment for a week and a half, and I have to take a little pause from it. The reactions I'm getting to it are way intense -- it makes it impossible to get through the day (big headaches). The immune response that the drops, tablets and suppositories are causing are overwhelming my poor old live. I think I need a complete liver cleanse before I tackle it again -- I will check with the doctor down there and see how he recommends I proceed.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
*great* conversation with Ralph Moss! (part 2)
(In this part: UltraPheresis therapy)
I had a *great* conversation with Ralph Moss the other day. (He's the professional cancer researcher (http://www.cancerdecisions.net ) who pointed me to my original treatment with Dr. Thaller in Germany, which bought me a remission for several months early last year.)
The second treatment that Moss discussed with me (and the one he slightly recommends for me) is UltraPheresis therapy by Dr. Lentz in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. Dr. Lentz has isolated three compounds in the blood that cancer cells produce as a decoy; as long as these compounds are in the blood, the cancer cells won't get attacked by the immune system. UltraPheresis is similar to a dialysis machine -- it filters these compounds out of your blood, and then your own body's immune system is free to attack the cancer.
Moss has also tracked several patients who have received these treatments, and they have got very good results.
description of treatment from Dr. Lentz' own site: --
http://www.biopheresis.de/index.php?id=17
great brief summary of the treatment and the theory --
http://www.euro-med.us/lentz_therapy.html
link to Dr. Moss' Flickrstream from his visit to Dr. Lentz' clinic in the German Alps (I'm almost sure I can faintly hear "Edelweiss" playing in the background!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24860924@N07/2514340851/in/set-72157605203869407/
I had a *great* conversation with Ralph Moss the other day. (He's the professional cancer researcher (http://www.cancerdecisions.net ) who pointed me to my original treatment with Dr. Thaller in Germany, which bought me a remission for several months early last year.)
The second treatment that Moss discussed with me (and the one he slightly recommends for me) is UltraPheresis therapy by Dr. Lentz in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. Dr. Lentz has isolated three compounds in the blood that cancer cells produce as a decoy; as long as these compounds are in the blood, the cancer cells won't get attacked by the immune system. UltraPheresis is similar to a dialysis machine -- it filters these compounds out of your blood, and then your own body's immune system is free to attack the cancer.
Moss has also tracked several patients who have received these treatments, and they have got very good results.
description of treatment from Dr. Lentz' own site: --
http://www.biopheresis.de/index.php?id=17
great brief summary of the treatment and the theory --
http://www.euro-med.us/lentz_therapy.html
link to Dr. Moss' Flickrstream from his visit to Dr. Lentz' clinic in the German Alps (I'm almost sure I can faintly hear "Edelweiss" playing in the background!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24860924@N07/2514340851/in/set-72157605203869407/
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
*great* conversation with Ralph Moss! (part 1)
(In this part: Sonodynamic therapy)
I had a *great* conversation with Ralph Moss this week. (He's the professional cancer researcher (http://www.cancerdecisions.net ) who pointed me to my original treatment with Dr. Thaller in Germany, which bought me a remission for several months early last year.)
For the past year, Dr. Moss has been traveling to clinics around the world, and has sent several of his clients to new treatments in China and Germany that seem very impressive.
The first one, sonodynamic therapy, is an ofshoot of photodynamic therapy, which has already ben approved by the FDA for use in some cancers. Sonodynamic therapy can go deeper, to get some cancers (like my bone metastases) that aren't easily reachable with light.
From what I understand, it consists of ingesting a compound made from deep-sea algae that photosenthysize through vibration, since no light penetrates their environment. The compound is designed to be taken up specifically by cancer cells. After your body absorbs it for 24 hours, you sit in a bathtub and the doctors turn on ultrasound for an hour and a half. The treatment lasts for a couple of weeks.
The results are really amazing, even for incurable metastatic cancers. Dr. Moss has tracked several clients who have used this therapy and has seen them get good results. Here's an abstract of an article talking about the good clinical results: http://bit.ly/quJtw
Some other references on SDT:
Here's the blog of a young couple from Portland that went to Xi'an, China for the treatment. Sounds relatively painfree.
http://www.roundhousemedia.net/china/round1.html (start at bottom)
2nd page of entries -- http://www.roundhousemedia.net/china/index.html (start at bottom)
brief description of SDT aimed specifically at prostate cancer patients (scroll down to "What is SPDT, PDT?" -- http://www.prostate90.com/prostate_cancer/Metastasis.html
website of Dr. Mitchell in Australia who has moved his treatment centers to China:
www.opalclinic.com/PDTSDT.htm
I had a *great* conversation with Ralph Moss this week. (He's the professional cancer researcher (http://www.cancerdecisions.net ) who pointed me to my original treatment with Dr. Thaller in Germany, which bought me a remission for several months early last year.)
For the past year, Dr. Moss has been traveling to clinics around the world, and has sent several of his clients to new treatments in China and Germany that seem very impressive.
The first one, sonodynamic therapy, is an ofshoot of photodynamic therapy, which has already ben approved by the FDA for use in some cancers. Sonodynamic therapy can go deeper, to get some cancers (like my bone metastases) that aren't easily reachable with light.
From what I understand, it consists of ingesting a compound made from deep-sea algae that photosenthysize through vibration, since no light penetrates their environment. The compound is designed to be taken up specifically by cancer cells. After your body absorbs it for 24 hours, you sit in a bathtub and the doctors turn on ultrasound for an hour and a half. The treatment lasts for a couple of weeks.
The results are really amazing, even for incurable metastatic cancers. Dr. Moss has tracked several clients who have used this therapy and has seen them get good results. Here's an abstract of an article talking about the good clinical results: http://bit.ly/quJtw
Some other references on SDT:
Here's the blog of a young couple from Portland that went to Xi'an, China for the treatment. Sounds relatively painfree.
http://www.roundhousemedia.net/china/round1.html (start at bottom)
2nd page of entries -- http://www.roundhousemedia.net/china/index.html (start at bottom)
brief description of SDT aimed specifically at prostate cancer patients (scroll down to "What is SPDT, PDT?" -- http://www.prostate90.com/prostate_cancer/Metastasis.html
website of Dr. Mitchell in Australia who has moved his treatment centers to China:
www.opalclinic.com/PDTSDT.htm
Sunday, February 8, 2009
new treatment in California's California!
Today was my 3rd day at the Center for Wellness near Santa Cruz. I'm getting a new treatment from Dr. Yarema here.
The idea of the treatment is similar to the one I got in Germany back in 2007 that gave me a remission of several months. It's immunotherapy, geared to wake up and strengthen my immune system so that it attacks the cancer. Dr. Y has tested my body against a dozen different isopathic compounds (similar to homeopathic compounds), to see which one reacts most strongly against my own blood. All of the compounds are represented by a letter or two that corresponds to their German names: "T", "Dx", "R", etc. The one that reacts best with my body is labeled OM !
That was all on Day 1 -- and for the last two days, he's been injecting me with a mixture of those compounds and my blood in areas that are near the tumors. Let's be honest here -- the least fun part was getting an injection in my perineum. (Why oh why did I have to choose to get *prostate* cancer??) Dr. Y is a great guy, though, and he has a good viewpoint, a lot of valuable diagnostic tools, and a crew of really great people working for him.
The best part of the trip is staying at Land of the Medicine Buddha, a local Tibetan Buddhist retreat hidden in the redwoods in the hills above town. I'm staying in a very monastic room, and there's a gargantuan spinning prayer wheel right outside. It feels like a very healing environment! (And I haven't seen so many people hitchhiking in years, or so many surfers, or so many unrepentant hippies -- Santa Cruz is truly California's California!)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
oh great, another personal record
(click to enlarge)OK, in today's "DO NOT LIKE" department, I just got results from my latest PSA test, and it's a sky-high 410. Let's see, that's over 40 times the accepted "danger" level for a PSA reading. The little cancer cells are going crazy. Fortunately, the cavalry is riding in this weekend with various immunotherapy injections and sodium bicarbonate IVs. (more details on that when I know them).
I'm also applying to a trial of an experimental drug called abiraterone that's being administered at M.D. Anderson in Houston. I don't know if I'll be accepted, but I fit all of their criteria.
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